(After Season 12)

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I really don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooo

His tongue pressed against the inside of his right cheek, Hank carefully removed the barrel bridge uncovering the barrel drum. Placing the part on the parchment paper near his elbow, he was careful to keep it separate from the other parts he had removed from the pocket watch. His disposable gloves were too big for his hands, but he had made sure his fingers were covered and he had used a rubber band around his wrists to keep the gloves from slipping off.

Now staring at the barrel drum he carefully pried it up and away from the main spring. While he was careful to place that piece on the paper his mother entered the room, walked across the floor and stopped by the desk where her son was sitting.

"Hank, I've called you three times. Your dinner is getting cold." Brennan spied the dismantled watch her son was working on and became alarmed. "What are you doing?"

Careful to remove the rubber band from each wrist, Hank pulled off the gloves and placed them on the free space on his desk. "Homework. It's for art class. Mr. Smarts asked us to take an old clock or pocket watch apart and draw each part trying to include as much detail as possible. He says that art and engineering are closely tied together and we can see the art in a clock or watch if we take them apart and really look at them."

"Where did you get this pocket watch?" Brennan was sure she knew the answer, but hoped she was wrong. "Did Mr. Smarts provide you the watch."

"Oh, I just looked in Dad's box in his dresser. He has a bunch of old watches." Hank was starting to feel that he might have made a mistake. "I know I should have asked Dad, but he never wears this watch and it looked old, so I didn't think he'd care. I didn't touch his watches in the box he has on top of the dresser. I know he uses them."

Her worse fears confirmed, Brennan sighed. This evening was going to unpleasant of that she was certain. "You should have asked me or your father, Hank. I have a watch you could have used . . . I believe this watch belonged to your father's grandfather." She paused, picked up the watch careful not to let any of the pieces fall out and held it up high enough to see the face. "As I suspected, it belonged to your name sake. Your father is going to be very upset, Hank."

His mouth suddenly dry, Hank knew that he had made a serious mistake. "He's going to kill me."

"He's not going to kill you, Hank. Your father has never harmed you in his life and he would be sad if you thought he was capable of abusing you letting alone kill you." Brennan placed the watch down and stared at the pieces. "Luckily your father is supervising a search for a kidnap victim this evening and he will be home late. You have to put the watch back together before he comes home."

Slowly shaking his head. Hank stared at the pieces and exhaled deeply. "I was only going to take it apart. I don't know if I can put it back together."

"Come into the kitchen and eat dinner. Once we are done, I will help you fix the watch. I just hope it's not broken."

"Thanks Mom . . . I'm sorry." Grateful that she was going to help him, Hank stood up and hugged her. "I really am sorry."

Leaning over, Brennan returned her eleven-year old's hug. "Unfortunately, being sorry after the fact doesn't help. From now on you must ask before you borrow someone else's property."

"Yes Ma'am."

Ooooooooooooooooo

With Brennan trying to reassemble the watch using a schematic she found online, Hank leaned over the parchment paper holding the parts and pointed out each part as she needed them. They worked slowly, making sure not to make a mistake and once the watch was assembled, she wound the stem to see if it was still working.

After staring at the tiny hands for a few moments, both mother and son realized that the watch was not going to work.

"Gosh, Dad is going to be so mad." Hank was afraid. "What if he hates me for ruining Pops' watch? What if Parker hates me too? What if . . . "

"Hank, you must remain calm." Brennan adjusted the hands, wound the stem a few turns and still the watch didn't work. "I'm going to have to take this to a jeweler to have it fixed."

Staring at the watch, Hank quickly walked over to his dresser, picked up his piggy bank and handed it to his mother. "I have 62 dollars Mom. You can take it and get it fixed . . . I hope it's enough."

Since her son was offering, Brennan took the little ceramic bank from her son, removed the money from it's interior and handed the bank back to Hank. "Thank you." She didn't need the boy's money, but it seemed like a good lesson, if the boy had to pay for something he had broken. "I'll take it to the shop tomorrow."

"Are you going to tell, Dad?" Nervous, Hank crossed his arms against his chest. "I mean, can't we just fix it and put it back in the box?"

Clearly, her son wanted her to do something dishonest and she didn't think that was a good idea. "I never lie to your father, Hank. Trust is very important to both of us and if I were to lie to him that would break his trust. It is better to be honest when dealing with someone you love. Lying can only hurt them."

"Okay." His voice was barely above a whisper.

Oooooooooooooooooo

She left the watch on the dresser and retired to bed. Booth had called and he thought he might be home around midnight. The kidnapped child had been found, but the manhunt for the kidnapper was still ongoing. They had a few tips that had been called in that seemed to be worth looking into, but Booth would let Aubrey continue the search while he came home. Booth had a meeting set up with the press at eight the next morning and he couldn't show up exhausted.

The house was quiet which Booth expected. There was a light on in the kitchen over the stove to give him some light while he made a quick sandwich to eat before going to bed. He hadn't eaten since around noon and his stomach had been complaining for several hours. Once his quick meal was done, he walked down the hallway to the bedroom he shared with Brennan, removed his shoes, stripped off his suit and retrieved a pair of boxers from the dresser. While he was looking for an old t-shirt to wear in bed, he spied his grandfather's pocket watch sitting on top of the dresser. After glancing at Brennan to see if she was awake, Booth turned back to the watch. Not sure why it was on the dresser, he picked it up, wound the stem and found that it wasn't working. There was just enough light coming from the bathroom to see that the hands weren't moving. Shaking it, he held against his ear and didn't hear the faint ticking he expected to hear. Since it was getting late and he needed sleep, Booth placed the watch back on the dresser and walked into the bathroom. Whatever was wrong with the watch would have to be taken care of later.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Brennan took the watch to a jeweler she liked to do business with and true to his word, Mr. Kramer had the watch fixed and ready to be picked up at the end of the work day. After she arrived home, she found Hank in his room studying. "Hank, I have your great-grandfather's watch. Mr. Kramer was able to fix it and he charged me $200 to do a basic cleaning and oiling. He had to replace the mainspring for $80 so the total bill was $280."

Shocked, Hank stood up and stared at his mother. "Mom, I only had $62. I . . . You can keep my allowance until it's paid for. I broke it and I have to pay for it."

Pleased that her son was such an honest person, Brennan handed him the watch and kissed his cheek. "You may give it to your father when he comes home. You will explain what happened."

Nodding his head, Hank placed the watch carefully on his desk and sat down. "I hope he doesn't get too mad at me."

She didn't know what to say since she was hoping for the same thing. Once she was out of the room, she found her daughter in the backyard watering the garden. Grateful that Christine was doing that task for her, she returned to the kitchen and began to cook. Deciding that Hank might need a little help, Brennan cooked macaroni and cheese for dinner. She rarely cooked that particular dish since she was trying to help Booth cut fats from his diet, but tonight she wanted a pleasant Booth available when Hank talked to him and fixing a cheesy dinner should help.

Ooooooooooooooooo

After dinner, Hank disappeared into his room and returned shortly afterward. Handing the watch to his father, the boy shoved his hands in his pants pockets. "I'm sorry, Dad. I borrowed Pop's watch without permission and I took it apart for an art project." He could see his father turn pale and he hurried on. "Mom helped me put it back together, but I broke something taking it apart so she took it to Mr. Kramer and he fixed it. I paid to have it fixed Dad and I'm sorry. I'll never borrow your stuff again unless I ask first."

The watch meant a lot to Booth and the thought that his grandfather's watch could have been broken was upsetting, but he also knew that though the watch had great sentimental value to him, it was just a thing. "Thank you for being honest with me, Hank. I appreciate that . . . Here, come here."

The boy moved closer not sure what was going to happen, but he trusted his father. Once he was closer, Booth lifted Hank's hand from his pocket and slipped the watch on the boy's wrist. To his amusement, it immediately fell off because the child's wrist and hand were too small. Catching it before it hit the floor, Booth placed it on the coffee table. "Okay, maybe we'll wait for that. The watch is yours to keep and protect. You never met Pops, but he was a great man. He raised me and your Uncle Jared when my parents couldn't. He was a policeman and when he saved me and my brother his wife was sick, but he didn't hesitate to take us in. When my grandmother died a year later, he kept Jared and me and we lived with him until we graduated from high school. He was kind, compassionate and he made the best chili in the world. This was his watch and when he died it came to me. Now, I'm giving it to you. I hope you take care of it and you remember that there are good people in this world that we should honor and never forget."

"Don't . . . don't you want to give it to Parker? He's older than me?" Hank was so honored to be given the watch, but he didn't want Parker to hate him for getting the watch.

"You don't worry about Parker." Booth placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and gently squeezed it. "He inherited his mother's father's watch and it's a very nice watch. I have a bunch of watches so when I die, you and Parker and Christine can see if you want any of them."

Picking up the watch, he held it in his hand and admired it for a few seconds before he smiled at his father. "I'll take real good care of this watch Dad. I promise."

"Thank you." Booth shook his son's hand. "I know I can count on you."

Ooooooooooooooo

Later that evening, Booth was preparing for bed while Brennan read her latest copy of 'Anthropology Now'. "How much did it cost to fix the watch?"

"$280."

"$280, holy shit." Booth turned to look at his wife. "Hank said he paid to fix the watch."

Brennan closed her magazine. "He had $62 in his piggy bank. He will forgo an allowance until it's paid for."

"Wow, that seems kind of rough." Booth moved over to the bed and sat down on the edge of the mattress. "How about I pay the difference and we let him keep his allowance. $62 is a lot of money for an eleven year old kid."

His kindness about the money made Brennan proud of her husband. He was kind hearted when it came to her and their children and she loved him for that. "No, it's paid for. You may keep your money and Hank can have his allowance. Hank volunteered to pay to fix it. I didn't have to ask him. He makes me so proud sometimes. When he's not aggravating his sister, he can be very considerate."

"We have great kids, don't we? I mean sure they can be a pain in the butt sometimes and Christine can be a know it all, but really, they don't give us a lot of trouble." Booth paused. "Well stealing my car did cause me trouble, but besides that, they don't give me too much trouble."

Brennan laughed. "Hank is only eleven. We'll see what he does when he turns sixteen. Christine's sixteenth year was very adventuresome."

"Adventuresome? That's what you call the teen year of hell?" Booth leaned over and kissed her. "I can use a little less adventuresomeness."

"There is no such word as adventuresomeness." Brennan returned his kiss, removed her blouse and slipped down the mattress until she was looking up at her mate. "But I will admit that I knew what you meant."

Booth removed his shirt and dropped it on the floor. "Well that's good." He stood up and removed his pants. "How about we have our own little adventure right now?"

"That sounds very intriguing Booth." Brennan smiled as her husband removed his socks and then his boxers. "Very intriguing indeed."

Ooooooooooooooooo

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